Bruno LaPlane is at home and ensconced in the Bordeaux wine industry having married into the Bonnie family, producers of Château Malartic-Lagravière and Chateau Gazin-Rocquencourt. However, with the increasing popularity of Argentina, he and the Bonnie family were eager to expand their interests. So, when the opportunity to join the Clos de los Siete project in Mendoza arose, they jumped at it. Accordingly, in 2005, the family purchased 130 hectares and built their own winery on the property, completed in 2009. Named for nearby Diamond Lake, in which the reflection of a volcano appears as a diamond, and the imposing Andes mountain range, DiamAndes was born.

DiamAndes released its Gran Reserva wine in New York earlier this year. This flagship wine is a blend of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon.  The company is now ready to introduce additional wines to the market under the name of DiamAndes de Uco, which includes: Chardonnay, Viognier, Malbec and Syrah. Another new wine is the entry-level Perlita by DiamAndes, which blends Malbec and Syrah and retails for $10.00/bottle.  Like LePlane, the Malbec grape, which does so well in Argentina’s high altitude vineyards, is also from Bordeaux. Not surprisingly, it accounts for 66% of the DiamAndes plantings.

Although these wines are priced at the value end of the market, they are still produced with the same careful attention to detail as those used in Bordeaux. More specifically, there is a keen emphasis on terroir, self-imposed strict yields (45 hl/ha) and hand harvesting, with a focus on crafting elegant wines. Aside from being located a world away from one another, the difference is that the cost of land and labor makes these Argentina exports much less expensive to produce, while still retaining the high quality for which the Bonnie family is known.

Chardonnay 2010
This grape variety represents 72% of the white plantings at DiamAndes. With a nose of slight spice, pear, some citrus and vanilla, the aromas repeat on the typically full-bodied palate, joined with some slight minerality.

Viognier 2010
Spice, apricot and tangerine aromas persist on the palate, along with floral notes. The full-bodied wine has medium acidity.

Malbec 2010
This wine presents with mostly black fruits and a slight floral character. It has nice acidity, with firm, yet ripe, tannins, becoming more complex on the palate with its flavors of blackberry, spice, vanilla and oak.

Gran Reserva 2007 (70% Malbec, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon)
A structured and elegant wine with spice, oak, blackberry, bramble fruit and slight eucalyptus notes, the tannins are quite firm, but should mellow with bottle age.

Also see my previous article on the Gran Reserva.